Drug Testing
Aaron Rubin
INTRODUCTION
Drug testing of the athlete is an ethical, moral, legal, regulatory, and possible medical issue.
Team physicians, athletic trainers, team psychologists, coaches, administrators, and others dealing with the care of the athlete may become involved with drug testing.
Care should be exercised to keep the punitive aspect of drug testing separate from the therapeutic care for athlete’s problems.
Drug testing is performed for many reasons:
To prevent “cheating” by use of drugs and chemicals
To “level the playing field” by keeping “clean” athletes from having to compete with anabolic using athletes
To prevent drug-induced illness and death
To prevent public relations problems for teams and organizations
SCOPE OF PROBLEM
Olympic drug testing began in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics (2).
Between the 1968 and 2008 Olympics, over 28,000 athletes were tested at competition, and 123 tested positive (including six horses at the Beijing Olympics) (2).
Various studies suggest that 5%-11% of high school males and 0.5%-2.5% of high school females have tried anabolic steroids (1,3).
REGULATING AGENCIES
United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)—http://www.usantidoping.org
Independent antidoping agency for Olympic sports in the United States (5).
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)—http://www.wadaama.org
The mission of WADA is to promote and coordinate at international level the fight against doping in sport in all forms (6).
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)—http://www.ncaa.org/drugtesting
Regulate and provide safety guidelines for student athletes from member colleges in the United States (4).
DRUGS, MEDICATIONS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
There are no inherently good, bad, dangerous, safe, legal, or illegal substances.
In terms of athlete testing, it is best to consider allowed or not allowed substances.
Illegal substances are determined by rule of law and may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Use of illegal substances can be punished by criminal law. (Marijuana and “crack” cocaine are illegal substances in most jurisdictions in the United States.)
Components of these substances may be legal. (Dronabinol is a derivative of marijuana and legal under prescription of a licensed physician. Cocaine is a legal medicine for specific indications).
Some legal substances can be used illegally (anabolic steroids are legal substances but can be obtained and used illegally).
Over-the-counter medications are generally legal but may not be allowed for athletic competitions (such as high-dose caffeine in NCAA testing).
Some substances are legal but not allowed under certain circumstance (alcohol and β-blockers may not be allowed for some events).
The ultimate decision regarding allowed or not allowed substances falls to the regulating agencies responsible for establishing the rules for the various sports teams, leagues, and organizations.
Therapeutic drugs:
Prescribed drugs are those given to the athlete under the direction (prescription) of a licensed physician or dentist. Just because a medication is prescribed does not exempt an athlete from sanctions.
Over-the-counter medications may be taken by the athlete on his or her own or by direction of a physician or other health care provider. Again, this does not exempt an athlete from sanctions if products are not allowed.
“Natural” products are often a misnomer. Many drugs (legal and illegal, prescription and nonprescription) are based on natural products. To complicate matters even more, many of these products may not be fully labeled with all ingredients. The athletes are ultimately responsible for what they put in their body.Related posts:
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